It sure looks like people are stocking up on groceries due to the Coronavirus situation. It certainly shows in the data that our panel members have been sending us.

Overall, according to Nielsen, for the two weeks ended March 21, 2020, total sales of U.S. consumer packaged goods – which are UPC barcoded products our panel members scan – have increased $8.5 billion from the prior two weeks. Just to put that in perspective, that’s 15 times the average rate of change for a typical two-week period!

In addition, our shopping behavior has changed in just a short period of time, as people are shopping more online to avoid crowds and the potential of getting infected. According to Nielsen, in the two weeks ended March 21, upwards of 35% more people had shopped online for CPG items compared with a typical week. And that will continue to grow over the next few weeks.

Scan All Your Purchases!

As we’ve said previously, it is important that panel members continue to record all their purchases, especially anything bought online. In these tough times, manufacturers and retailers really want to know what their customers are buying.

So, what exactly are we buying more of these days? Well, things you might expect. Take a look at these sales figures from Nielsen. The following chart shows the percentage that U.S. dollar sales increased for the comparable weeks in 2019 and 2020.

Products Week ending March 14 Week ending March 21
Aerosol disinfectants +518.9% +264.1%
Hand sanitizer +207.5%    +192.8%
Cold and flu remedies +158.8% +192.2%
Multipurpose cleaners +242.9%    +182%
Antiseptic products +196.4% +172.9%
Paper towels +154.4% +127.4%
Toilet paper +212.7% +123.5%
Total beans +133.5% +237.2%
Soup +126.6% +237.1%
Rice +166.1% +234.1%
Pasta +136.3% +227.8%
Canned meat +187.8% +282%
Canned seafood +139.4% +233.4%
Eggs +44% +85.7%
Water +99.4% +78.5%
Cat litter +37% +60.3%
Dog food +37.5% +54.7%
Cat food +38.7% +52.8%

Let us know how you’re doing or what you’ve been stocking up on by leaving a comment.

Note: If you’re not able to shop for the time being,NCP isproviding all our panel members with a specially coded UPC barcode (see link below). During weeks when you are unable to make any purchases, you can scan the barcode to let us know.

Not only will this save you the time of reaching out to our Panel Support Center, but it’ll keep your panel membership active and you’ll continue to be eligible for our NCP sweepstakes.

Click here to view/download the barcode along with additional instructions.

As always, please be safe and keep your distance!

Best Regards,
Taylor